Contractors bidding to demolish Great Hall/Long Hall in West Hollywood were met by Protect Plummer Park protestors during a mandatory pre-bid meeting and site walk at 8 a.m. on Monday.

More than 50 people protested the demolition of Great Hall/Long Hall at Plummer Park on Monday morning. (photo by Aaron Blevins)

As a large group of contractors and two sheriff’s deputies followed a city staff member to the east side of the structure, demonstrators holding signs and megaphones chanted, “Save the halls from the wrecking balls.”

The demonstration stemmed from a West Hollywood City Council decision made on Dec. 2, when the council voted to demolish Great Hall/Long Hall, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Councilman John D’Amico had proposed repairing, re-opening and re-programming the Plummer Park structure, but Councilman John Duran redirected the discussion toward the demolition of the building. Duran’s motion to analyze the costs of razing the structure passed 3-2.

“We’ve been asking and asking and asking for a town hall meeting or a single-item agenda meeting and what we got was, ‘We’re tearing the buildings down immediately,’” said Cathy Blaivas, of Protect Plummer Park.

The city has been looking to renovate the park for approximately 20 years, and was moving close to completing the design of Phase 1 of the renovations in October 2011, when community members denounced the work for several reasons, such as the removal of “old-growth trees” and the length of time the park would be out of commission.

At the end of 2011, city representatives opted to put the plan on hold while forming a subcommittee to work more closely with the community on the park plan. West Hollywood had planned to use redevelopment funds for the project, but the dissolution of the state’s redevelopment agencies ended that plan, despite the fact that the city’s agency had already issued the bonds.

The project had remained on hold until earlier this month, when Duran moved to have the city manager report on the feasibility of having Great Hall/Long Hall torn down, which was a part of the earlier park proposal, to create green space. His motion also directed the city to move forward with the construction of a permanent Tiny Tots preschool location and the renovation of the interior of Fiesta Hall.

“It really is about unobstructed, open green space, rather than just the footprint of the building,” Duran said in a previous interview. He stressed that the community has specifically requested more parkland. “Those are the sort of uses we want to encourage at Plummer Park, rather than just meeting space.”

Blaivas is in favor of open space, just not at the expense of the Works Progress Administration building. She said Protect Plummer Park is also in favor of a new preschool, just not one with a playground on its roof.

“There are other ways to achieve open space,” Blaivas said, adding that some council members want to raze Great Hall/Long Hall “come hell or high water.”

Duran said the city has waited 20 years, which is “long enough.” Community members had similar reservations about construction at West Hollywood Park, which has been lauded by residents, he said.

“I think when we get finished with Plummer Park, people will have the same response,” Duran said.

Protect Plummer Park representatives have stated that they are not against construction at the park, but they do now want to alter the park’s unique charm, character and European feel. They felt that the project proposal would have removed those qualities.

“It shouldn’t be anything like our urban park. It shouldn’t be. It’s … apples and oranges,” Blaivas said, adding that some community events have been moved from Plummer Park to West Hollywood Park. “They have a vision, which they keep saying is the community’s vision, and they haven’t asked the community. They haven’t asked the community in a meaningful way.”

She said city representatives frequently tell opponents that the city conducted 90 meetings about the park plan. However, many of the meeting documents — if not all — report that they were “sparsely attended,” Blaivas said.

“That was then, this is now. At least have the courtesy to listen to us. At least have the courtesy to do what you promised us: a single-item council meeting or a town hall [meeting],” she said.

Blaivas said the council could have appeased the community by repairing and reprogramming Great Hall/Long Hall before determining its fate.

“To me, that’s personal,” she said. “Why not throw us a bone?”

Duran said he just felt that the city needed to move forward. During the Dec. 16 council meeting, members of the community spoke both in favor and in opposition of the demolition plans, but the council did not make a final decision.

According to a city representative, the council had yet to provide direction as to the future of Great Hall/Long Hall. The representative said the city is obtaining bids for any work to be done at the park once the council makes a decision, but no decisions have been made as of yet.

Following the Dec. 2 council meeting, D’Amico said the council may have started a “long and painful process” by moving to demolish the historic building. That could be true, as Blaivas said Protect Plummer Park is currently analyzing its legal options.

On a related note, Asssemblyman Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) is looking to release the hold on redevelopment funding for municipalities that had already legally issued bonds for local projects, such as West Hollywood and Santa Monica.

According to his district report, he introduced AB 981 in February, but the initial discussions with the state’s Department of Finance and the governor’s office proved discouraging.

However, on Nov. 11 and 12, Bloom and his staff met with staff members from West Hollywood and Santa Monica, as well as the department of finance and governor’s office, to establish a number of next steps and commitments for follow-up meetings as the entities try to author legislation to fix the issues.

28 Responses to “Protestors rally to ‘save the halls’”

Duran said he had a vision that he wanted to see implemented. Then he should buy a piece of property and build it. This is the people’s park—not his. Wonder when the last time he spent any time there….

so could it be that the sudden rush to demolish has to do with those meetings about making another run at those redevelopment funds?

i would add to the article that in early 2012 the city had publicly announced that they were going to commission alternate design at the cost of $1 million. simultaneously (and paradoxically) they hired a company called MIG to do ‘outreach’ on the existing plan. the alternate designs were going to be presented to the community for significant input in may 2012. of course that never happened.

now the sudden rush to demolish and execute the center piece of the plan that was put on hold. just follow the money, right?

This is yet another example of how developers run this city through their stooges on the City Council. Some contractor stands to make a lot of money knocking this old building down, ripping up the trees in the park and building an expensive, unneeded parking structure.

West Hollywood: A government of the developers, by the developers, and for the developers. The citizens be damned.

I have used Plummer Park for years and love the charming quality it possesses.
It would be a travesty to demolish the Hall building.

The Hall is on the National Register of Historic Places, for crying out loud, doesn’t that mean anything?
One of the very things that keeps West Hollywood an “urban village” would be gone, further diminishing the quality of West Hollywood.

As a resident of over 30 years, I would truly hate to see the demolition of the OLD GROWTH TREES — in addition to the Great Hall. And the thought of months and months of noise, dust, trucks, additioinal parking nightmares etc, is not something I would want my city to force upon me and my lovely neighbors.

We are in now Phase 2 for West Hollywood Park and the nee Robo Garage at City Hall. What is the rush and how can we afford all of this T the same time.
Our eastside alleys should be upgraded for bicycles. What happened to more pocket parks? Great Hall Long Hall could be a great place for a museum about the interesting history of Plummer Park.

When is the West Hollywood City Council going to wake up and understand their residents do not need their vision for Plummer Park spoon fed to them? In fact the residents would rather spit it back out and request an alternate plan but those pleas are being ignored. Wait…did somebody say Santa Monica was going to attempt to get that redevelopment money released> No wonder the elected officials of WeHo are ignoring those resident pleas. They have a more enticing carrot dangling in front of them. Pathetic.

The ‘need’ for more open space continues to be the push, however there has never been any hard data or information provided by the Council that shows that the community is asking for this. On any given day, there is more than enough green space to hold all that are using the park. But I doubt that the Council knows this, as they only come to the Park when they are trying to rustle up support for their causes. Stop trying to push projects in to the community that the community (your voting constituents) are NOT ASKING FOR!

Mr. Blevins has touched on all aspects of the ongoing saga of Plummer Park. Mayor Abbe Land, Councilmember John Heilman and Councilmember John Duran, acted AGAINST a fair, community-supported proposal by Mayor Pro Tem John D’Amico to renovate our historic buildings and save more than a dozen old-growth and heritage trees. The item was supported by Councilmember Jeff Prang and hundreds of supporters from across the city. The “Knock ‘em Down Three” have acted unconscionably and diametrically opposed to the their OWN findings in our city’s own municipal code Sec 19.58 that states: “The provisions of this chapter, which constitute the City’s Cultural Heritage Preservation Ordinance, are adopted based on the following findings by the Council.

A. Threatened Structures and Sites. The Council has determined that the character, history, and spirit of the City, State, and nation are reflected in the historic structures, improvements, natural features, objects, sites, and areas of significance located within the City and that in the face of ever in-
creasing pressures of modernization and urbanization, cultural resources, cultural resource sites, and historic districts located within the City are threatened with alteration, demolition, or removal.

B. Preservation of Structures and Sites. The Council has further determined that these threatened structures, representing the City’s unique cultural, historical, and social foundations, should be preserved as a living part of community life and development in order to build a greater understanding of the city’s past and to give future generations the opportunity to appreciate, enjoy, and understand the city’s rich heritage.

C. Methods of Preservation. Recognizing that the use of historic preservation measures has become increasingly prevalent as a method for identifying and preserving cultural resources, the city joins with private concerns, the state, and the United States Congress to develop methods of preserving the city’s unique aesthetic, architectural, cultural, and historical heritage, in compliance with the provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, and state law (Government Code Section 37361).(Ord. 01-594 § 2 (Exh. A), 2001)

Therefore, if, in fact, when the community members came to the Council and asked that the historic WPA, Great Hall/Long Hall be demolished, then the Council should have said, “NO. It is against our Municipal Code.”

What the City really wants is another revenue-generating event space (like WeHo Park) — community members be damned. The community has said in countless surveys is that they want parks and green space. Trees are part of that landscape (excuse the pun) – not necessarily “a great lawn” (and, in the case of WeHo Park, cement and decomposed granite). There are plenty of other options – which would allow the historic buildings to stand — the City Council just doesn’t want to be bothered, even though it means going against their own Climate Action Plan. The Eastside deserves a beautiful park, and this can be accomplished in a number of ways, without demolition of the historic buildings and/or removal of old growth trees. And, the community deserves to be heard, and for real options to be presented – not just “receive and file.”

For the longest time I couldn’t understand why City Hall has taken such great pains to oppose the will of those residents who use Plummer Park the most and would be the most negatively-impacted by this redevelopment plan, particularly when so many have clearly made their voices heard on this matter. West Hollywood already has one park that was razed and re-tooled to match City Hall’s vision of a modern “urban” park: the West Hollywood Park. That works o.k. for the western portion of Weho, but the eastern part of weho is a different animal. West Hollywood Park is indeed more “open” than it was before—but it’s not used as a “hang out” place for the neighborhood in the same way Plummer Park is, and it’s not even particularly “green”. It is, however, convenient to use for large, moneymaking events. I can’t help but suspect that City Hall feels Plummer Park, as it is currently configured, doesn’t maximize its revenue-generating potential enough, and that trumps the will of the community that actually uses the park on a daily basis. Otherwise, why keep trying to quickly force through a terribly unpopular idea against the will of so many constituents and even resist taking seriously counter-proposals?

This fine article says it all. Beside the egregious plan to tear out old growth trees and demolish a national landmark (completely brought about by citizen volunteers with no remuneration or gain) is the simple fact that on the record, the city council of West Hollywood had a single item council or town hall meeting at the request of residents. As far as I know this is on the record. Until that promise is fulfilled how does the city justify their actions. They have missed a step THEY promised. The promise was made in late Fall – November or December 2011 and has yet to happen.

Plummer Park is a neighborhood park tucked into a residential area. Repairs and necessary upkeep as well as better facilities for all WeHo residents is one thing – but the scope of the City’s plan is enormous and disruptive to owners and renters of this area, not to mention the people for whom this park is a front or backyard. Twenty some years ago the “Community Clubhouse” was home to the pre-school Head Start and having been inside I can tell you it was a great space for kids this age to play and learn. The Russian Library was housed here. The Audubon Society was in this edifice but even more to the point – this was the birthplace of Act Up – an AIDS Organization that gave voice to the specter of an illness gravely effecting our small city. It opened a door for other groups to not only raise awareness and funds – but to remove the prejudice and shame that was part of this disease’s profile in the public mind.. Shame which was wrong then and now. Plummer Park gave Act-Up a place to make its voice heard. History lives within those wall and in that safe, welcoming little public space. It maybe in need of some TLC – but it shouldn’t be demolished. It is our own treasure and one the folks in Washington DC believe belongs to our country as well.

FYI – the meeting in which this was mentioned was on December 19, 2011 and appears in the minutes. It was subsequently covered in the WeHo Patch at length and there were numerous comments made. The gist however did not include a demolition derby.

The fecklessness of Duran, Land or any other sleek, smug, complacent politician who thinks the best park in West Hollywood can be destroyed with a phony ‘improvement’ scheme – whose real agenda is to build underground parking for nearby developers and business owners under Plummer Park, destroying nearly everything that now exists there.

Well, they’re all playing a dangerous game to take on a group as dedicated, smart and focused as the Save Plummer Park advocates, who’ve been demonstrating and going to (incredibly boring and infuriating) local meetings for over two years!

You want to go up against this bunch? As I say, it’s a big chance to take. Anger generated by Duran’s latest ‘tear down Plummer during Christmas’ backdoor scheme is rising to the boiling point, while Duran trries to ram the thing through. This whole sneaky business is the lowest thing we’ve seen so far, but it will not stand.

To Mr. Duran: remember your anti-democratic, arrogant actions now will become tasty opposition research when you run for office again, and you can expect demonstrations, noise, viral internet organizing and people complaining loudly against a Duran candidacy – picking out Duran in particular here because his arrogance in the Plummer Park matter really deserves a full exposition.

A word to the wise should be sufficient. WeHo pols, you’ve picked the wrong hornet’s nest to step on this time. Sincerely, garby francis leon PhD

Yes, there will be a new building in Plummer Park; a beautiful preschool that West Hollywood can be proud of and not the shameful eyesore it has always been. It is an embarrassment! Plummer Park is also a community park; a park of the City and not a neighborhood park.
The most historic act is to Preserve Plummer Park with open green space where a building, Great Hall/Long Hall now stands. This is not worthy of designation as a WPA structure like the Beverly Hills Post Office or many others across the country that actually hired artisans’ to give them the status to repurpose. Great Hall/Long Hall was just another of the WPA era that, of all places, was erected in the middle of a park.

Preserve Plummer Park is the purpose that those of us support who believe a park is for open green space and not an overabundance of old, not useable building. Preserve Plummer Park is a movement to open the park like a park should be. The future of Plummer Park, its users, residents and future glory and what is best for a ‘Park’ is to open up the green space.

West Hollywood deserves an eastside park/venue for music festival’s, job fairs, health fairs, children’s events, cultural events for the American Indians, Russian community, LGBT community… In its current sad state, all programs are crammed and disjointed around an overabundance of buildings and fragmented, compartmentalized green space that is not reflective of a ‘park’.

Preserve Plummer Park, whose intention is to open green space, upgrade Fiesta Hall and bring a respectable preschool to Plummer Park. We have a new online petition for those that believe a park is a park is a park and should be preserved. Those that support this long overdue improvement to our community park can sign the Chang.org petition at

The most important aspect is to bring together the four lawns. Sorry but Protect Plummer Park has not budged an inch to compromise. Tennis courts belong in the park and I am sure the people who constantly use them would argue they stay. The underground parking feature is NOT happening. First compromise to happen, second there is no air shaft to run close to the preschool which your group did not want. Second compromise. Fiesta Hall will be upgraded but the exterior design will be altered. Third compromise. The design will be debated latter but the contemporary design that Plummer Park fought so hard to derail is a compromise for your group. Remember, the first compromise was to halt the approved plan that your group wanted and achieved.

Now Preserve Plummer Park, the community members that want open green space knows that it is the best for the City, all park users, residents (whether you agree or not) to open up green space by removing Great Hall/Long Hall. The overriding consideration and benefits to the community far out way your groups push to once again keep this old, marginally historic structure in the middle of our only eastside park.

This is the compromise we Preserve Plummer Park want and frankly will reflect what a park of today should be. West Hollywood, all its residents has listened to endless public debate by your group and ours and now it’s time to move forward after two + long years. An updated park with open green great lawn, a performance hall in Fiesta Hall that will bring new life to this historic building. It will also be repurposing and reusing the principle structure in Plummer Park. Don’t forget, there is already a recently added, new community center that can and should be used more.

Preserve Plummer Park wants open green space to meet the demands of the growing infrastructure that it serves and this is our compromise but at no further delays. The park must be preserved as an urban, updated, modernized, fully functioning park for today and the future. A park should not be fragmented, compartmentalized and not give park users obstacles and dead structures’ to overcome in their pursuits to obtain the greatest experiences a new current park can offer by Preserving Plummer Park.

Please sign to give Plummer Park back the open green space it should have never lost.

Sign the NEW petition today to urge City Council to fully support open green space and improved park facilities for the future by Preserving Plummer Park as an urban park forever.

FYI – For those interested in the important historic value of Great Hall/Long Hall, officially known as the Community Clubhouse, here is the link to the NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES in Washington, D.C. , the website for the United States Department of the Interior. Structures listed on the Register go through stringent review, by learned and erudite panels, first on the State level, prior to being submitted to the Federal level for review. The honored structures are diverse and meet varying criteria depending upon the historic value of each. John Muir’s Cabin in Yosemite is on the list, the post office in Beverly Hills is listed along side Slave Cabins in Missouri. A listing on the Register is coveted by many local governments. http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/feature/places/13000510.htm
Surely, there must be more creative ways and other alternatives to achieve “open space” than to demolish a national treasure.
If readers are interested in being involved in an open, straight-forward petition that requests community input and a redesign of the current plan of the preschool, that at present, forces children to play on the roof of the building and calls for the slaughter of 54 old-growth trees, here is the link.https://www.change.org/petitions/city-of-west-hollywood-stop-the-plummer-park-master-plan

The statement of overriding consideration that is in the approved City of West Hollywood’s Master Plan for Plummer Park recognizes that Great Hall/Long Hall has marginal historic interest but this one folks belongs and is in the history books.

Open, Green Space is what is the most historic recognition that Plummer Park can achieve. Restore the land to as much open green space join the four currently segregated lawns with clear site lines together. If you believe that nature and conservation of park lands is paramount to users of a park than, please sign our petition.

We at Restore Plummer Park want the only eastside park of West Hollywood to reflect what a park should and can be. Join us in supporting the restoration and upgrades to Plummer Park. Remember Fiesta Hall is in Plummer Park and is the notable historic building that will become a state-of-the art performance hall. We need open green space in our parks not parks that house to many buildings. Please sign. Thank you.

Here are the FACTS:
#1. RELOCATE the 2 southern tennis courts NOT remove them. Never have we suggested the removal….Please get that straight. This would be a compromise and it would achieve a great open space, and better sight lines.
#2. The underground parking: To our knowledge from the oversight Board Committee meetings, the State of California Department of Finance does not consider parking lots to be an ROP (Recognized Obligation Payment). So, the rumor that the parking is not happening is likely based on lack of funding rather than any compromise on the behalf of the city.
#3. Protect Plummer Park did not stop the plan, Governor Jerry Brown stopped the plan when he dissolved the Redevelopment Agency. No compromise there.
#4. As for the exhaust from the underground parking being routed up through the roof of the preschool. It is a direct quote from permanent records of a 2010 meeting held by architects Pugh and Scarpa, in re the Plummer Park Phase I Master Plan. I am not sure how you can call that a compromise.
#5. The exterior of Fiesta Hall being redesigned is “conceptual”. Although our city manager stated the following in a December 21, 2011 West Hollywood Patch article:“We just commissioned the architects to do some more renditions [of alternatives for the park redesign],” City Manager Paul Arevalo announced at the meeting. “We’ll have some concepts on costs and models on that within the next six weeks to two months.” http://westhollywood.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/city-commissions-new-designs-for-plummer-park-reactivfc824fc0c8
Nothing was ever brought back to the community on that. It could be a compromise but we do not know.

Please also remember, the original Master Plan for Plummer park included the removal almost every tree from Santa Monica Blvd. north up to the tennis courts. The plan called for removal of 56 trees that were too large to box and for boxing all the other trees, but also in a public records report from the landscape architectural firm it was stated that boxing the trees should have included a plan to trim the roots of said trees over a five year period, PRIOR to boxing and, in their words, “it was already too late…”

Not sure what compromise you think Protect Plummer Park or the city for that matter has made. Your statement, “This is the compromise we at Preserve Plummer Park want and frankly will reflect what a park of today should be…..Preserve Plummer Park wants open green space to meet the demands of the growing infrastructure that it serves and this is our compromise but at no further delays….” What exactly is your compromise? Demolition of Great Hall/Long Hall is not a compromise. RELOCATING the two southern tennis courts to open up green space WOULD be. I am afraid your comments are inaccurate and have just confused the issues.

Cathy you might have a point if the building Great Hall/Long Hall were worth saving but the statement of overriding consideration and what is best for Plummer Park, current and future users is open green space as the central feature to Plummer Park. Stop avoiding and obstructing the historic recognition of open green space. Your solution of relocated tennis courts and a bigger path around a old, dated not too historic concrete/plaster building is not a solution. This footprint in our park must go. Your side has and I have no problem with, received many compromises. But your still not happy. I do not want two plus years of debate from Protect Plummer Park’s propaganda. Do the right thing and concede to open green space with Fiesta Hall as the historic building of Plummer Park. Restore Plummer Park to a park of the community. Please stop scaring every person that will listen to your propaganda that Plummer Park will be treeless. In fact most will stay and new will be added along with shrubbery, greenery, plants more tables and chairs a better all around park. Restore Plummer Park.

All this talk of the need for more open green space continues to beg the question, ‘Who is asking for it?’. Of all of the meetings I’ve attended, not one resident has stood up and asked for more green space. I live across from the park – stop by some time and see what I see, which is readily available green space for all. The E side green space is rarely used and could easily host all of those silent-but-clamoring for green space.

So why don’t YOU do the right thing and actually spend time in the park, understand how it is used, what is wanted vs. needed and stop the bullying. While Cathy might be the most vocal and visible about this matter, there are many, many others who agree. Were you at the community meeting in 2011? I don’t think that the State pulling funding was the only reason why the original plan failed, so let’s be honest when trying to ram facts that are simply untrue.

John Duran tearing down West Hollywood’s historic Plummer Park buildings and mature trees would be like Hollywood tearing down the Chinese Theater, Los Angeles tearing down Union Station and Olvera St, Beverly Hills tearing down their historic City Hall, Boston tearing down Liberty Hall, New York tearing down Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Once the deed is done they are gone for good, along with the history and charm, all because John Duran wants the people’s town to be his customized city. Narcissism is not pretty, John Duran. Your five minutes of fame is not equal to the decades of history and artistry of early Californian architecture which will be lost FOREVER.

Leave Plummer park and the great hall alone. It is a nice
Community park with plenty of open space to enjoy. The park on the Westside is cold and uninitivng and I don’t want to see that happening to our park. Save the trees, save the long hall, save Plummer park!